Use this simple method to remove yellow tint from vintage lenses
Jan 14, 2021
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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Many photographers love using vintage lenses for their unique character. With Thorium-coated “radioactive lenses,” their yellowish tint is what gives them a distinct look. However, the downside is that the color intensifies with time, turning the lens’ “character” into something that’s more of a nuisance.
If you own a Thorium-coated vintage lens that’s turned very yellow, Mathieu Stern has a solution. In his latest video, he shows you a simple and cheap method to remove the yellow tint.
The trick is in UV lighting. You can get an LED UV lamp for 30-ish dollars on Amazon, and you’ll also need a small mirror. I assume you already have one at home, and you’ll need it to place the lens on it. The process is pretty straightforward: place the lens on the mirror and shine the UV light straight onto it. The mirror will reflect a part of UV rays through the lens. After around 10 hours, turn the lens over and leave it under the UV light for another 8-10 hours. And that’s it. here’s how it turned out for Mathieu:
Watching this video, I thought “This is like Lightroom’s temperature adjustment in real life.” So if you want to get the colors right in camera instead of adjusting them in Lightroom later, I believe you can try this. And if you do, let me know if it works for you.
[How to Remove Yellow Tint from vintage Lens (FAST & EASY) | Mathieu Stern]
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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8 responses to “Use this simple method to remove yellow tint from vintage lenses”
I wonder how long it lasts before it fades again.
years
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d2742ef72848b575ab2c89975b42d3d718ef707db940ca888917284af8e661f2.jpg
I was also thinking for a while about the idea of using laser light to
get rid of warts and mold inside old lenses. Then, unfortunately, I did
not have laser equipment and decided to use sunlight and a magnifying
glass.
How did I come up with this idea?
Because mold grows inside old lenses, so are living things, so we can kill them with laser light.
I
did not practice and test this idea, but I will write and share it
here. If he has enough equipment, he can do this test and share the
result with others. did you think this idea working ?
thank all
You don’t need anything so fancy, just leave it in the sun for a few hours. The mold, and any etching it might have left, will still be there but will no longer spread.
Is a $20 light really all that fancy? And, I live in Scotland. And it’s Winter. What sun?
Heh, dude above was talking about using lasers to zap fungus, but yeah, one also needs to live in a climate that is occasionally dry. I often put my recently purchased vintage lenses on a window sill for a few days before I take it apart for cleaning but don’t know how much UV makes it through the glass panes. Figure it can’t hurt. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ Serious stuff gets left on the deck to disinfect/deactivate.
You can also just leave it the sun.
Yeah, there ain’t much of that here in Scotland at this time of year. :)